[1] For the idea of the low free-board and the revolving turret
Ericsson was indebted to Theodore R. Timby (1819-1909), who in 1843
had filed a caveat for revolving towers for offensive or defensive
warfare whether placed on land or water, and to whom the company
building the "Monitor" paid $5000 royalty for each turret.
HAMSTER, a European mammal of the order Rodentia, scientifically known
as _Cricetus frumentarius_ (or _C. cricetus_), and belonging to the
mouse tribe, _Muridae_, in which it typifies the sub-family
_Cricetinae_. The essential characteristic of the Cricetines is to be
found in the upper cheek-teeth, which (as shown in the figure of those
of _Cricetus_ in the article RODENTIA) have their cusps arranged in two
longitudinal rows separated by a groove. The hamsters, of which there
are several kinds, are short-tailed rodents, with large cheek-pouches,
of which the largest is the common _C. frumentarius_. Their geographical
distribution comprises a large portion of Europe and Asia north of the
Himalaya. All the European hamsters show more or less black on the
under-parts, but the small species from Central Asia, which constitute
distinct subgenera, are uniformly grey. The common species is specially
interesting on account of its habits. It constructs elaborate burrows
containing several chambers, one of which is employed as a granary, and
filled with corn, frequently of several kinds, for winter use. As a
rule, the males, females, and young of the first year occupy separate
burrows. During the winter these animals retire to their burrows,
sleeping the greater part of the time, but awakening about February or
March, when they feed on the garnered grain. They are very prolific, the
female producing several litters in the year, each consisting of over a
dozen blind young; and these, when not more than three weeks old, are
turned out of the parental burrow to form underground homes for
themselves. The burrow of the young hamster is only about a foot in
depth, while that of the adult descends 4 or 5 ft. beneath the surface.
On retiring for the winter the hamster closes the various entrances to
its burrow, and becomes torpid during the coldest period. Although
feeding chiefly on roots, fruits and grain, it is also to some extent
carnivorous, attacking and eating small quadrupeds, lizards and birds.
It is exceedingly fierce and pugnacious, the males especially fighting
with each other for possession of the females. The numbers of these
destructive rodents are kept in check by foxes, dogs, cats and
pole-cats, which feed upon them. The skin of the hamster is of some
value, and its flesh is used as food. Its burrows are sought after in
the countries where it abounds, both for capturing the animal and for
rifling its store. America, especially North America, is the home of by
far the great majority of _Cricetinae_, several of which are called
white-footed or deer-mice. They are divided into numerous genera and the
number of species is very large indeed. Both in size and form
considerable variability is displayed, the species of _Holochilus_ being
some of the largest, while the common white-footed mouse (_Eligmodon
leucopus_) of North America is one of the smaller forms. Some kinds,
such as _Oryzomys_ and _Peromyscus_ have long, rat-like tails, while
others, like _Acodon_, are short-tailed and more vole-like in
appearance. In habits some are partially arboreal, others wholly
terrestrial, and a few more or less aquatic. Among the latter, the most
remarkable are the fish-eating rats (_Ichthyomys_) of North-western
South America, which frequent streams and feed on small fish. The
Florida rice-rat (_Sigmodon hispidus_) is another well-known
representative of the group. In the Old World the group is represented
by the Persian _Calomyscus_, a near relative of _Peromyscus_.
(R. L.*)
HANAPER, properly a case or basket to contain a "hanap" (O. Eng. _hnaep_:
cf. Dutch _nap_), a drinking vessel, a goblet with a foot or stem; the
term which is still used by antiquaries for medieval stemmed cups. The
famous Royal Gold Cup in the British Museum is called a "hanap" in the
inventory of Charles VI. of France. The word "hanaper" (Med. Lat.
_hanaperium_) was used particularly in the English chancery of a wicker
basket in which were kept writs and other documents, and hence it became
the name of a department of the chancery, now abolished, under an
officer known as the clerk or warden of the hanaper, into which were
paid fees and other moneys for the sealing of charters, patents, writs,
&c., and from which issued certain writs under the great seal (S. R.
Scargill-Bird, _Guide to the Public Records_ (1908). In Ireland it still
survives in the office of the clerk of the crown and hanaper, from which
are issued writs for the return of members of parliament for Ireland.
From "hanaper" is derived the modern "hamper," a wicker or rush basket
used for the carriage of game, fish, wine, &c. The verb "to hamper," to
entangle, obstruct, hinder, especially used of disturbing the mechanism
of a lock or other fastening so as to prevent its proper working, is of
doubtful origin. It is probably connected with a root seen in the Icel.
_hemja_, to restrain, and Ger. _hemmen_, to clog.
HANAU, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, on
the right bank of the Main, 14 m. by rail E. from Frankfort and at the
junction of lines to Friedberg, Bebra and Aschaffenburg. Pop. (1905)
31,637. It consists of an old and a new town. The streets of the former
are narrow and irregular, but the latter, founded at the end of the 16th
century by fugitive Walloons and Netherlanders, is built in the form of
a pentagon with broad streets crossing at right angles, and possesses
several fine squares, among which may be mentioned the market-place,
adorned with handsome fountains at the four corners. Among the principal
buildings are the ancient castle, formerly the residence of the counts
of Hanau; the church of St John, dating from the 17th century, with a
handsome tower; the old church of St Mary, containing the burial vault
of the counts of Hanau; the church in the new town, built by the
Walloons in the beginning of the 17th century in the form of two
intersecting circles; the Roman Catholic church, the synagogue, the
theatre, the barracks, the arsenal and the hospital. Its educational
establishments include a classical school, and a school of industrial
art. There is a society of natural history and an historical society,
both of which possess considerable libraries and collections. Hanau is
the birthplace of the brothers Grimm, to whom a monument was erected
here in 1896. In the neighbourhood of the town are the palace of
Philippsruhe, with an extensive park and large orangeries, and the spa
of Wilhelmsbad.
Hanau is the principal commercial and manufacturing town in the
province, and stands next to Cassel in point of population. It
manufactures ornaments of various kinds, cigars, leather, paper, playing
cards, silver and platina wares, chocolate, soap, woollen cloth, hats,
silk, gloves, stockings, ropes and matches. Diamond cutting is carried
on and the town has also foundries, breweries, and in the neighborhood
extensive powder-mills. It carries on a large trade in wood, wine and
corn, in addition to its articles of manufacture.
From the number of urns, coins and other antiquities found near Hanau it
would appear that it owes its origin to a Roman settlement. It received
municipal rights in 1393, and in 1528 it was fortified by Count Philip
III. who rebuilt the castle. At the end of the 16th century its
prosperity received considerable impulse from the accession of the
Walloons and Netherlanders. During the Thirty Years' War it was in 1631
taken by the Swedes, and in 1636 it was besieged by the imperial troops,
but was relieved on the 13th of June by Landgrave William V. of
Hesse-Cassel, on account of which the day is still commemorated by the
inhabitants. Napoleon on his retreat from Leipzig defeated the Germans
under Marshal Wrede at Hanau, on the 30th of October 1813; and on the
following day the allies vacated the town, when it was entered by the
French. Early in the 15th century Hanau became the capital of a
principality of the Empire, which on the death of Count Reinhard in 1451
was partitioned between the Hanau-Munzenberg and Hanau-Lichtenberg
lines, but was reunited in 1642 when the elder line became extinct. The
younger line received princely rank in 1696, but as it became extinct in
1736 Hanau-Munzenberg was joined to Hesse-Cassel and Hanau-Lichtenberg
to Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1785 the whole province was united to
Hesse-Cassel, and in 1803 it became an independent principality. In 1815
it again came into the possession of Hesse-Cassel, and in 1866 it was
joined to Prussia.
See R. Wille, _Hanau im dreissigjahrigen Krieg_ (Hanau, 1886); and
Junghaus, _Geschichte der Stadt und des Kreises Hanau_ (1887).
HANBURY WILLIAMS, SIR CHARLES (1708-1759), English diplomatist and
author, was a son of Major John Hanbury (1664-1734), of Pontypool,
Monmouthshire, and a scion of an ancient Worcestershire family. His
great-great-great-grand-father, Capel Hanbury, bought property at
Pontypool and began the family iron-works there in 1565. His father John
Hanbury was a wealthy iron-master and member of parliament, who
inherited another fortune from his friend Charles Williams of Caerleon,
his son's godfather, with which he bought the Coldbrook estate,
Monmouthshire. Charles accordingly took the name of Williams in 1729. He
went to Eton, and there made friends with Henry Fielding, the novelist,
and, after marrying in 1732 the heiress of Earl Coningsby, was elected
M.P. for Monmouthshire (1734-1747) and subsequently for Leominster
(1754-1759). He became known as one of the prominent gallants and wits
about town, and following Pope he wrote a great deal of satirical light
verse, including _Isabella, or the Morning_ (1740), satires on Ruth
Darlington and Pulleney (1741-1742), _The Country Girl_ (1742), _Lessons
for the Day_ (1742), _Letter to Mr Dodsley_ (1743), &c. A collection of
his poems was published in 1763 and of his _Works_ in 1822. In 1746 he
was sent on a diplomatic mission to Dresden, which led to further
employment in this capacity; and through Henry Fox's influence he was
sent as envoy to Berlin (1750), Dresden (1751), Vienna (1753), Dresden
(1754) and St Petersburg (1755-1757); in the latter case he was the
instrument for a plan for the alliance between England, Russia and
Austria, which finally broke down, to his embarrassment. He returned to
England, and committed suicide on the 2nd of November 1759, being buried
in Westminster Abbey. He had two daughters, the elder of whom married
William Capel, 4th earl of Essex, and was the mother of the 5th earl.
The Coldbrook estates went to Charles's brother, George
Hanbury-Williams, to whose heirs it descended.
See William Coxe's _Historical Tour in Monmouthshire_ (1801), and T.
Seccombe's article in the _Dict. Nat. Biog._ with bibliography.
HANCOCK, JOHN (1737-1793), American Revolutionary statesman, was born in
that part of Braintree, Massachusetts, now known as Quincy, on the 23rd
of January 1737. After graduating from Harvard in 1754, he entered the
mercantile house of his uncle, Thomas Hancock of Boston, who had adopted
him, and on whose death, in 1764, he fell heir to a large fortune and a
prosperous business. In 1765 he became a selectman of Boston, and from
1766 to 1772 was a member of the Massachusetts general court. An event
which is thought to have greatly influenced Hancock's subsequent career
was the seizure of the sloop "Liberty" in 1768 by the customs officers
for discharging, without paying the duties, a cargo of Madeira wine
consigned to Hancock. Many suits were thereupon entered against Hancock,
which, if successful, would have caused the confiscation of his estate,
but which undoubtedly enhanced his popularity with the Whig element and
increased his resentment against the British government. He was a member
of the committee appointed in a Boston town meeting immediately after
the "Boston Massacre" in 1770 to demand the removal of British troops
from the town. In 1774 and 1775 he was president of the first and second
Provincial Congresses respectively, and he shared with Samuel Adams the
leadership of the Massachusetts Whigs in all the irregular measures
preceding the War of American Independence. The famous expedition sent
by General Thomas Gage of Massachusetts to Lexington and Concord on the
18th-19th of April 1775 had for its object, besides the destruction of
materials of war at Concord, the capture of Hancock and Adams, who were
temporarily staying at Lexington, and these two leaders were expressly
excepted in the proclamation of pardon issued on the 12th of June by
Gage, their offences, it was said, being "of too flagitious a nature to
admit of any other consideration than that of condign punishment."
Hancock was a member of the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1780, was
president of it from May 1775 to October 1777, being the first to sign
the Declaration of Independence, and was a member of the Confederation
Congress in 1785-1786. In 1778 he commanded, as major-general of
militia, the Massachusetts troops who participated in the Rhode Island
expedition. He was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional
Convention of 1779-1780, became the first governor of the state, and
served from 1780 to 1785 and again from 1787 until his death. Although
at first unfriendly to the Federal Constitution as drafted by the
convention at Philadelphia, he was finally won over to its support, and
in 1788 he presided over the Massachusetts convention which ratified the
instrument. Hancock was not by nature a leader, but he wielded great
influence on account of his wealth and social position, and was liberal,
public-spirited, and, as his repeated election--the elections were
annual--to the governorship attests, exceedingly popular. He died at
Quincy, Mass., on the 8th of October 1793.
See Abram E. Brown, _John Hancock, His Book_ (Boston, 1898), a work
consisting largely of extracts from Hancock's letters.
HANCOCK, WINFIELD SCOTT (1824-1886), American general, was born on the
14th of February 1824, in Montgomery county, Pa. He graduated in 1844 at
the United States Military Academy, where his career was creditable but
not distinguished. On the 1st of July 1844 he was breveted, and on the
18th of June 1846 commissioned second lieutenant. He took part in the
later movements under Winfield Scott against the city of Mexico, and was
breveted first lieutenant for "gallant and meritorious conduct." After
the Mexican war he served in the West, in Florida and elsewhere; was
married in 1850 to Miss Almira Russell of St Louis; became first
lieutenant in 1853, and assistant-quartermaster with the rank of captain
in 1855. The outbreak of the Civil War found him in California. At his
own request he was ordered east, and on the 23rd of September 1861 was
made brigadier-general of volunteers and assigned to command a brigade
in the Army of the Potomac. He took part in the Peninsula campaign, and
the handling of his troops in the engagement at Williamsburg on the 5th
of May 1862, was so brilliant that McClellan reported "Hancock was
superb," an epithet always afterwards applied to him. At the battle of
Antietam he was placed in command of the first division of the II.
corps, and in November he was made major-general of volunteers, and
about the same time was promoted major in the regular army. In the
disastrous battle of Fredericksburg (q.v.), Hancock's division was on
the right among the troops that were ordered to storm Marye's Heights.
Out of the 5006 men in his division 2013 fell. At Chancellorsville his
division received both on the 2nd and the 3rd of May the brunt of the
attack of Lee's main army. Soon after the battle he was appointed
commander of the II. corps.
The battle of Gettysburg (q.v.) began on the 1st of July with the defeat
of the left wing of the Army of the Potomac and the death of General
Reynolds. About the middle of the afternoon Hancock arrived on the field
with orders from Meade to assume command and to decide whether to
continue the fight there or to fall back. He decided to stay, rallied
the retreating troops, and held Cemetery Hill and Ridge until the
arrival of the main body of the Federal army. During the second day's
battle he commanded the left centre of the Union army, and after General
Sickles had been wounded, the whole of the left wing. In the third day's
battle he commanded the left centre, upon which fell the full brunt of
Pickett's charge, one of the most famous incidents of the war. Hancock's
superb presence and power over men never shone more clearly than when,
as the 150 guns of the Confederate army opened the attack he calmly rode
along the front of his line to show his soldiers that he shared the
dangers of the cannonade with them. His corps lost in the battle 4350
out of less than 10,000 fighting men. But it had captured twenty-seven
Confederate battle flags and as many prisoners as it had men when the
fighting ceased. Just as the Confederate troops reached the Union line
Hancock was struck in the groin by a bullet, but continued in command
until the repulse of the attack, and as he was at last borne off the
field earnestly recommended Meade to make a general attack on the beaten
Confederates. The wound proved a severe one, so that some six months
passed before he resumed command.
In the battles of the year 1864 Hancock's part was as important and
striking as in those of 1863. At the Wilderness he commanded, during the
second day's fighting, half of the Union army; at Spottsylvania he had
charge of the fierce and successful attack on the "salient"; at Cold
Harbor his corps formed the left wing in the unsuccessful assault on
the Confederate lines. In August he was promoted to brigadier-general in
the regular army. In November, his old wound troubling him, he obtained
a short leave of absence, expecting to return to his corps in the near
future. He was, however, detailed to raise a new corps, and later was
placed in charge of the "Middle Division." It was expected that he would
move towards Lynchburg, as part of a combined movement against Lee's
communications. But before he could take the field Richmond had fallen
and Lee had surrendered. It thus happened that Hancock, who for three
years had been one of the most conspicuous figures in the Army of the
Potomac did not take part in its final triumph.
After the assassination of Lincoln, Hancock was placed in charge of
Washington, and it was under his command that Booth's accomplices were
tried and executed. In July 1866 he was appointed major-general in the
regular army. A little later he was placed in command of the department
of the Missouri, and the year following assumed command of the fifth
military division, comprising Louisiana and Texas. His policy, however,
of discountenancing military trials and conciliating the conquered did
not meet with approval at Washington, and he was at his own request
transferred. Hancock had all his life been a Democrat. His splendid war
record and his personal popularity caused his name to be considered as a
candidate for the Presidency as early as 1868, and in 1880 he was
nominated for that office by the Democrats; but he was defeated by his
Republican opponent, General Garfield, though by the small popular
plurality of seven thousand votes. He died at Governor's Island, near
New York, on the 9th of February 1886. Hancock was in many respects the
ideal soldier of the Northern armies. He was quick, energetic and
resourceful, reckless of his own safety, a strict disciplinarian, a
painstaking and hard-working officer. It was on the field of battle, and
when the fighting was fiercest, that his best qualities came to the
front. He was a born commander of men, and it is doubtful if any other
officer in the Northern army could get more fighting and more marching
out of his men. Grant said of him, "Hancock stands the most conspicuous
figure of all the general officers who did not exercise a separate
command. He commanded a corps longer than any other, and his name was
never mentioned as having committed in battle a blunder for which he was
responsible."
A biography of him has been written by General Francis A. Walker (New
York, 1894). See also _History of the Second Corps_, by the same
author (1886). (F. H. H.)
HANCOCK, a city of Houghton county, Michigan, U.S.A., on Portage Lake,
opposite Houghton. Pop. (1890) 1772; (1900) 4050, of whom 1409 were
foreign-born; (1904) 6037; (1910) 8981. Hancock is served by the Mineral
Range, the Copper Range, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul, and the
Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic railways (the last two send their trains
in over the Mineral Range tracks), and by steamboats through the Portage
Lake Canal which connects with Lake Superior. Hancock is connected by a
bridge and an electric line with the village of Houghton (pop. in 1910,
5113), the county-seat of Houghton county and the seat of the Michigan
College of Mines (opened in 1886). Hancock has three parks, and a marine
and general hospital. The city is the seat of a Finnish Lutheran
Seminary--there are many Finns in and near Hancock, and a Finnish
newspaper is published here. Hancock is in the Michigan copper
region--the Quincy, Franklin and Hancock mines are in or near the
city--and the mining, working and shipping of copper are the leading
industries; among the city's manufactures are mining machinery, lumber,
bricks and beer. The municipality owns and operates the water-works. The
electric-lighting plant, the gas plant and the street railway are owned
by private corporations. Hancock was settled in 1859, was incorporated
as a village in 1875, and was chartered as a city in 1903.
HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-1851). German classical scholar, was born
at Plauen in Saxony on the 15th of February 1786. He studied at Leipzig,
in 1810 became professor at the Weimar gymnasium, and in 1817 professor
of philosophy and Greek literature in the university of Jena, where he
remained till his death on the 14th of March 1851. The work by which
Hand is chiefly known is his (unfinished) edition of the treatise of
Horatius Tursellinus (Orazio Torsellino, 1545-1599) on the Latin
particles (_Tursellinus, seu de particulis Latinis commentarii_,
1829-1845). Like his treatise on Latin style (_Lehrbuch des lateinischen
Stils_, 3rd ed. by H. L. Schmitt, 1880), it is too abstruse and
philosophical for the use of the ordinary student. Hand was also an
enthusiastic musician, and in his _Asthetik der Tonkunst_ (1837-1841) he
was the first to introduce the subject of musical aesthetics.
The first part of the last-named work has been translated into English
by W. E. Lawson (_Aesthetics of Musical Art_, or _The Beautiful in
Music_, 1880), and B. Sears's _Classical Studies_ (1849) contains a
"History of the Origin and Progress of the Latin Language," abridged
from Hand's work on the subject. There is a memoir of his life and
work by G. Queck (Jena, 1852).
HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. _Hand_, Goth.
_handus_), the terminal part of the human arm from below the wrist, and
consisting of the fingers and the palm. The word is also used of the
prehensile termination of the limbs in certain other animals (see
ANATOMY: _Superficial and artistic_; SKELETON: _Appendicular_, and such
articles as MUSCULAR SYSTEM and NERVOUS SYSTEM). There are many
transferred applications of "hand," both as a substantive and in various
adverbial phrases. The following may be mentioned: charge or authority,
agency, source, chiefly in such expressions as "in the hands of," "by
hand," "at first hand." From the position of the hands at the side of
the body, the word means "direction," e.g., on the right, left hand, cf.
"at hand." The hand as given in betrothal or marriage has been from
early times the symbol of marriage as it also is of oaths. Other
applications are to labourers engaged in manual occupations, the members
of the crew of a ship, to a person who has some special skill, as in the
phrase, "old parliamentary hand," and to the pointers of a clock or
watch and to the number of cards dealt to each player in a card game. As
a measure of length the term "hand" is now only used in the measurement
of horses, it is equal to 4 in. The name "hand of glory," is given to a
hand cut from the corpse of a hanged criminal, dried in smoke, and used
as a charm or talisman, for the finding of treasures, &c. The expression
is the translation of the Fr. _main de gloire_, a corruption of the O.
Fr. _mandegloire_, _mandegoire_, i.e. _mandragore_, mandragora, the
mandrake, to the root of which many magical properties are attributed.